April 23, 2007

Striving to deliver an inspiring tale for women, Columbia Pictures is on the move to develop a new drama feature entitled "Kabul Beauty School" following its successful attempt to secure the film rights to Deborah Rodriguez 's autobiography of the same name that she wrote alongside Kristin Ohlson.

A New York Times bestseller, the book tells about Rodriguez's personal experience in opening a beauty school in Afghanistan after she decided to head for the country in 2002 following the downfall of the Taliban's reign. With donations from American beauty companies and other benefactors, she worked hard to fulfill her dream while trying to mesh in a culture that was still male-dominated.

Indie rock act The Twang treats its fans with two special gigs in east London. The band will play T-Mobile Street Gig on May 2 whereby only people with invitations are granted admission.

Call it private since the number of audience is limited to 200 people. These 'chosen ones' must register first in t-mobilemusic.co.uk and only given 4 days chance that starts April 23.

Often spotted to play eccentric people on screen as well as villainous characters, Crispin Glover is once again set to show his expertise on nailing such role in "The I Scream Man."

Yes, the New York-born actor, widely remembered for his role as the 'Thin Man' in "Charlie's Angels" films, has landed the lead part of a vengeful ice cream vendor in the indie horror. Also starring Tom Sizemore, Judd Nelson, and Haylie Duff, the flick follows his character as he, driven by brutal memories from his twisted past, wreaks bloody havoc on the small, seemingly innocent town of Hooper, Wyoming.

Going for period piece, Sam Mendes has given his commitment to direct a dramatic feature entitled "Middlemarch" based on George Eliot's 1871 classic novel of the same name, Variety has reported.

Widely perceived as Eliot's greatest work, the book interweaves the stories of various friends, acquaintances, and relations in the fictional town of Middlemarch in the 1830s England with an ardent and idealistic young woman named Dorothea Brooke as the central character.

Britney Spears is gearing up her comeback bang with several plans. Among the arrangements in her agenda is the duet with American Idol's most famous contestant in cycle 6, Sanjaya Malakar.

The "Toxic" singer has been watching the show since her stay in rehab and she eventually couldn't restrain her interest in recording a duet with the seventeen years old wonder. There has been a report that Britney's agent made a contact with Sanjaya to see if he would also be interested in the collaboration. No response has been quoted yet so far.

In the middle of the continuous publications circling around her latest vehicle "Spider-Man 3", Kirsten Dunst has spilled beans to IESB.net that she is taking a role in "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People", a comedic feature that "Hot Fuzz" star Simon Pegg is set to topline.

Adapted from Toby Young's best-selling memoir of the same name, the project will likely depict the author's struggle in earning notice as he was brought over to work for Vanity Fair in New York. While Dunst has confirmed that she is going to play a writer for the magazine, the actress, however, did not provide any sign whether the character is supposed to be the romantic interest of Young.

Nicole Richie will fly to Australia to attend MTV Australia Video Music Awards 2007. She is particularly keen on this event due to her lover Joel Madden's role as the host of the event. Joel and his band Good Charlotte will act as the host of the 3rd annual awards along with Stacy Ferguson aka Fergie.

The 25-year-old celebrity will be among others contributing the limelight of the event. Performers slated to appear are 30 Seconds to Mars, Aussie's very own dance group Sneaky Sound System and ARIA winning band Eskimo Joe. The ones in charge of red carpet show are blogger Perez Hilton, and singer Sophie Monk. Meanwhile, Beyonce Knowles is rumored to make an appearance that day following her Australian tour dates that is in line with the event.

Well, this no doubt will raise such a great hype if the deals are really inked. According to Rush PR News, an Indiana-born filmmaker named C.L. Gregory has stated that he is currently holding serious talks to have Jessica Simpson cast in his next 'horror' effort, "The Kentucky Fried Horror Show."

"I felt that the script needed someone that could carry the weight of its character and without doubt, Jessica was my first and only consideration for the role," so Gregory commented as quoted by the site. "She's never done a horror film to date and we felt she was ready for a project like this as it will be a very emotional and demanding piece of work for her. But I don't see anyone who can pull it off better than Jessica Simpson."

Remains being enthusiastic in bringing thrills to moviegoers, Jason Statham is reportedly involved negotiations to topline futuristic action thriller "Death Race" which Universal Pictures is currently developing under its banner.

Originally set up at Paramount Pictures as a vehicle for Tom Cruise, the flick is a remake of the 1975 cult classic "Death Race 2000" which takes place in a dystopian America where the president presides over an ultra-violent road race from New York to Los Angeles. Here contestants get score points for running people down using their heavily armed cars as they speed across the country.

Ghostface Killah will be one of the headliners of Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. The rapper who is also the member of Wu-Tang Clan will perform alongside Big Daddy Kane, Consequence, Lupe Fiasco, Skillz and hip-hop artist Rhymefest on June 23.

Held in Tobacco Warehouse, Brooklyn, the event will also feature local rap group named Tanya Morgan. "We are very excited to be part of the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. The event is one of the most highly anticipated concerts in New York (and) from what I can tell it's a crazy event to be aligned with," DonWill of Tanya Morgan said.

Here comes another look on "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" for all "Potter" fans out there to quench their thirst on the highly anticipated fantasy flick.

Warner Bros. Pictures as the studio holding the hit franchise has exclusively brought up a new international trailer for the movie on the web at AOL UK . Most of it appears to feature Dolores Umbridge, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher played by Imelda Staunton with a glimpse of a fight at the Ministry of Magic toward the end.

Matt Damon is the latest actor that goes green. The movie hunk is trying to save the planet by joining GreenDimes.com, an organization that attempts to halt the tons of junk mail delivered to American homes each day.

Joined forces with the Website, Damon is about to promote environmental efforts to prevent the trees used for junk mail letters and envelopes from being chopped down.

In the urgent audition for The View's supporting act, an unsigned band has stood out among the crowd. The three-piece group namely Monroes was chosen just hours before the concert began after The Horrors dropped out on April 20.

In the audition that required interested bands to submit demo tapes, Monroes beat 50 others. Drummer Lenny Rout said that he felt 'nervous and excited" upon picked. He along with band mates have started the band since 2005 but so far only performed around Norwich. They described the band's vibe as "indie new wave with ska and reggae influences".

Another act agreed to lighten up 2007 Roskilde Festival. Queens of the Stone Age said 'yes' to join the lots already confirming such as Bjork, The Who, Muse and Beastie Boys.

On April 19, the band that will release "Era Vulgaris" on June 12 have confirmed their presence along with Eagles of Death Metal that is co-found by the band's founder and only continuous member, Josh Homme.

Despite the arrival of a handful of new thriller flicks on the weekend, fans of the genre apparently prefer to keep focusing their gazes on the old one.

Yes, for the second time, teen-oriented pic "Disturbia" successfully claims the top spot of weekend box office ended April 22, 2007, gaining $13 million worth of ticket sales to beat out tension-generated movies "Fracture" and "Vacancy", which both took their first round on the chart.

The Decemberists will play a handful of dates this summer and fans can expect a surprise from the five-piece indie pop band. The band's show will be backed up with a full orchestra in each city.

The jaunt that is held to support the already extremely received album "The Crane Wife" will feature orchestral version of the band's songs. Composer Sean O'Loughlin will be the mastermind of the new arrangement.

The speculation is proven true. Amy Winehouse has been engaged to boyfriend Blake Fielder-Civil.

"He proposed at home a few days ago and I took a day to finally agree. Obviously we are both young and it is frightening. But it is the right thing to do. That is why I agreed," the British singer told UK's The Sun newspaper.

Seemingly addicted, Josh Groban extends the tour dates to support "Awake" (2006) in Canada and US. The first additional date will be July 17 in Greenville, South Carolina.

The trek will continue up to August 31 in Omaha, Nebraska with 4 Canadian dates in between. These Canadian dates are Aug 12 in Winnipeg, MB, Aug 14 in Edmonton, AB, Aug 15 in Calgary, AB and Aug 17 in Vancouver, BC. Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo will still support Groban all along the extended dates.

Elle Macpherson is single again. The Australia supermodel is back on the single market after reportedly split with boyfriend Ray Fearon, whom she was dating since November last year.

"Elle and Ray aren't together any more. They just realized things weren't working out so they called it a day. There's no hard feelings on either side and they are still friendly," an insider told The Sun.

Guns N' Roses who recently announced the postponement of Japanese dates in Chinese Democracy World Tour 2007 has further claimed that they will keep the dates starting from April 27 onwards. With this statement, they confirm that My Coke Fest in Johannesburg and May 1 show in Cape Town will resume as scheduled.

Paul Dainty as the promoter even elaborates that the reports on Australian leg that starts June 10 in Perth being cancelled is wrong. "I spoke with them last night and they did not tell me that," Dainty said in a statement. "The South Africa dates are next week. The Australian dates are still months away."

It seems that Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have quite different ideas on how to spend their time beyond their hectic schedules. While the pop queen was in Malawi with daughter Lourdes and adopted son David Banda, the hunk spent his time partying at trendy Mayfair bar Mahiki, where he reportedly dancing intimately with a mystery brunette.

Rumor has it Madonna obviously mad that Guy was out on the town in London while she dutifully went on her journey to adopted baby David's hometown in Malawi.

Seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger headed to MTV is something extraordinary. But yes the California Governor did it. The former actor made an appearance on MTV show "Pimp My Ride" Sunday April 22nd, making his car "environmentally hip."

Appeared on a special Earth Day episode of the popular show "Pimp My Ride," Arnold brought his 1965 Chevy Impala in for some earth-friendly upgrades. The Impala gets an 800 horsepower diesel engine that will run on biodiesel, turning it into one extraordinary clean machine. The upgrades to his Impala impressed Arnold that he asked the crew to do a similar modification to one of his Hummers.